Rhee In-yong, president of Samsung Group, invited the winners of Corea Image Communication Institute’s 2013 speech contest to a luncheon and discussion on cultural topics on Thursday.Rhee and the winners discussed and exchanged ideas about the “Meaning of the success of the Korean wave and new areas of the Korean wave,” “New keyword for 2013 Korea” and “Multicultural Korea.” “Korea is opening up to the world and I hope you will become the bridge between Korea and the outside world,” he said at t

Seo Kyung-duk, a PR expert in promoting Korean culture, said he would post a new ad for makgeolli in the Wall Street Journal later this month.The professor of Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul commented on Twitter on Thursday that “the actor Song Il-kook, who has become a world star thanks to the worldwide success of his drama ‘Jumong,’ will participate in this project.”The ad will be financed by crowdfunding, a method that enlists financial support from ordinary citizens interested in the pr

LONDON (AFP) ― Spain’s El Celler de Can Roca seized the title of the world’s best restaurant from Denmark’s Noma on Monday, one month after dozens of people came down with a bout of food poisoning from the Copenhagen eatery.The restaurant in Girona, run by three brothers and known for its dishes based on perfumes, had spent two years as runner-up on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list compiled for a 12th year by more than 900 international experts for Britain’s Restaurant magazine.It swapped pl

A group of Korean designers will present their collections at one of Asia’s biggest fashion showcases in Singapore this month. Twelve young designers and Lee Suktae will attend the Asia Fashion Exchange from May 13-19 in Singapore that will gather international and Asian designer brands from all over the world. Young designers’ brands such as J Apostrophe, J KOO, KYE, Leyii, Navy Scandal and One Choi will present their pre-spring collection for 2014 to international buyers and press at the Blue

Sungnyemun, or the South Gate from the Joseon era (1392-1910), will be unveiled to the public on Saturday after 63 months of restoration. A lavish ceremony is planned to mark the return of the National Treasure No.1 in central Seoul. The restoration was the fruit of around 35,000 people’s dedication, from the selection of the best wood and stone to adhering to the most traditional method possible.The Cultural Heritage Administration said it reinforced fireproofing and the fire alarm system since

Content format industry seen likely to grow into W100b market by 2015

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were named among the top 500 most powerful individuals in the world by Foreign Policy, a U.S.-based magazine on global politics and economy.The magazine on Monday announced 500 individuals around the world that it deemed the most influential in their respective fields, whether it was politics, finance, religion or military force. Joining Park on the list were nine other South Koreans, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki

Upper-arm lift is the latest trend in plastic surgery, according to a report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. While bigger eyes, higher noses and bigger breasts still prevail in the industry, arms are definitely having their moment with the number of surgeries shooting up 4,378 percent over the past decade. The primary patients are those who have gone through dramatic weight loss and want to tighten the saggy underarm area. The new wave in the plastic surgery industry is not only ge

Korean fried chicken won an award at the Chowzter World’s Seven Tastiest Fast Feasts Awards on Sunday.“They cook pepper and chicken together in the oil, where the sweetness of pepper softly infuses into the chicken meat. Close to food heaven, if you ask us,” a narrator said in a video clip played at the ceremony for the awards.The awards, sponsored by Coca-Cola Company, was organized in London to nominate the world’s best food items in seven categories -- pizza, chicken, sausage, burger, curry,

British and U.S. researchers suggest size may not matter in fighting; the big guy doesn‘t always win -- at least for fish.Scientists at the University of Exeter in England and Texas A&M University found when fish fight over food, it was personality, rather than size, that determined which would be victorious.The findings, published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, suggested when resources were in short supply personality traits such as aggression could be more important than s

Women who regularly get Botox treatments seeking youth are becoming immune to the injection, even forming antibodies to it, a report said.German researchers published a paper in the Journal of Neural Transmission, saying that one out of 200 Botox patients come to develop antibodies which lead to ineffective results. More negative results were found among those who took a larger dose of injection than others due to medical reasons such as treating spasms or sweating. Other scientists from Britis